


The Dream System

by NervousAliceCurious



Series: Escape The Night Fandom 4 - Origin Hourglass [2]
Category: Our ETerNity Together
Genre: F/M, Loose end, The Future (For Now), dollhouse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27282265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious
Summary: The dollmaker reappears. How do you get rid of someone who won't go away?
Series: Escape The Night Fandom 4 - Origin Hourglass [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991230
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	The Dream System

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dede42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/gifts).



> Cw: Dolls, body horror, non-consent, needles, burning, age problems. Brief brainwashing allusion. Needle warning, panic, dizziness. Eating bones? Little self-dep.

“Thank you….”

He just bobs his head.

“-You could’ve done that with the ghosts the whole time?”

“Not while they were in the jars”, he answers.

“Ah. . .”

“He’s been hanging around you for a while...did you notice him?”

“No…”

  


Alice looks. . .regretful.

  


“I didn’t……..”

  
  


-That...went better than I thought it would.

She’s sleeping on the couch here.

Just for the night. . .

Though not much has happened in a while.

-I grin.

_ Tempt fate, much? _

I knock on myself.

Alice’s mom is upstairs.

So is her brother.

Nary a sound in the house.

Thank goodness-

One loose end taken care of.

I just wish. . . . . .

I sigh………

_ She could have this all the time…. _

I don’t want it to be the last moment they ever spend together.

-But I guess. . .I’m just asking for trouble……..

We haven’t even  _ found  _ Fiction yet.

_ And we still have  _ **_him_ ** _ to deal with- _

  


I wasn’t sure whether or not to leave it out.

  


I didn’t want to worry Mathilde-

-I also didn’t want her to go Mama Bear on him, either.

Darn  _ Calvin. _

  


If there was only a way we could keep him from coming back. . .

  


My luck is horrible, and nothing  _ we  _ do ever works. . .

The only person  _ I  _ can think of that had  **any** luck at all,  **_period,_ ** is-

  


-I hear a sound.

Is that a-?

  


I’m leaning on the wall, was I just- _ not  _ spotted!?

A shadow, creeping towards her-

I lunge, and wrap vines around their neck.

Something stabs me in the jugular--

  


.

  


.

  
  


.

  
  
  


Where am I. . .?

_ Ugh…. _

I sit up.

“Ow…”

M-my head-

It’s--spinning---

Wh...what-

What’s going on?

What-

I look down.

-!!??

What  **_happened_ ** to me---

My limbs-

They’re  _ porcelain!! _

“N-nonono!! What’s this-”

I scramble upright, or I try to, at least-

“Where  _ are  _ you, you  _ doll-making-!!!” _

Wooden walls rise around me.

I don’t know where I am-

_ I  _ **_did_ ** _ tempt fate-!! _

-Don’t panic-

I run into bars.

“HEY YOU!!”

I shout into the darkness-

“GET IN HERE AND GIVE ME A **N EXPLANATION-”**

-Ow.

Thorns prick me-

_ Darn it-!! _

I pull at them, ignoring the electric sting.

It’s dulled.

Because I’m a  **doll.**

-It finally sinks in. . . .

The world-warps--

I try to breathe-

I-

Can’t--

Oh  **God.**

**God** no-

I sink to the floor.

I’m-so-dizzy-

Footsteps.

But I-

I’m gonna-

  


Faint-

  
  


. . . . . . . . . ?

  


Huh-

“Envy?”

“. . . .A. . . .lice-”

“Envy, wake up!!”

  


An arm shakes me-

  


“What-”

  


I rub my forehead-sore-

  


“Wake up-”

  


-It’s  **not** Alice.

  


“YOU!!”

  


I quickly back up,  _ stand  _ up-

Darn-these- _ feet-!! _

  


“What did you  **do-”**

“I turned you into a doll”.

-_-

  


“I  _ knew  _ that-!!”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Shut it!!”

  


I hate how my arm is quivering as I point-

  


“Where is Alice!??”

“-How do you know she’s here?”

_ “Is  _ she!?”

  


I splutter-

  


“You were  _ leaning over her!!!” _

“Then where is she?”

“D-Don’t play games with me!”

  


I pull at the bars.

-I barely feel any pain.

Again-

  


“Where is she!!?? If you’ve hurt her-”

“Not yet”.

  


He grins.

I don’t like it-

  


“-I’m not gonna be your bait!!”

  


I slam a  _ fist  _ into the iron-

It cracks.

  


“I wouldn’t be too hasty~”

  


He turns around.

  


“-I’ll be back”.

_ “You’d  _ **_better_ ** _ be!!” _

  
  


I wake up.

_ Empty. . .room? _

I could’ve  _ sworn  _ I saw Envy standing over me. . .

I shield my eyes from the glare.

_ Why- _

I get off the bed.

_ Eww. _

I’m pretty unrumpled though, so that’s good. . . . . 

I head over to the door.

I pull on the knob-

Locked.

_ Okay. . . _

-I ignite my hands….

Blue fire blazes.

_ Nice to see that still works- _

  


-The door opens in my face.

  


“Ah! You’re up!!”

  


-I shove him into the wall.

  


“Ow-”

  


Ignore that, and run into the hallway!!

  


_ Why didn’t he try to stop me? _

Why do I even need to wonder-

  


I  _ see  _ why.

  


At the end of the road?

A cell.

And in it?

  


“Alice!!”

  


He looks like a patched-up ragdoll.

  


“Envy!??”

  


I run over-

  
“OW-!!”

  


I fall back as I’m shocked-

  


“No!!”

  


-He lowers his open hand to the ground, trying in  _ vain  _ to summon vines.

He cannot.

  


“No. . .”

  


I scan one side, then the other-

Cordoned-off areas.

Huge china tea sets, fancy dresses-

There’s even a make-up station.

I frown and blaze my hands for Round 2.

  


-Footsteps.

  


-I aim a blast at him!!

He deflects it with a convenient sheet.

Smoke fills the air-

  


“Now, now”.

  


I  **hate** his condescending tone.

  


“Is that any way to treat your future husband?”

“Let us go!!”

“I  _ could-” _

  


He smiles slyly-

  


“-But I wouldn’t fix your boyfriend”.

“B-boyfriend!?”

  


-He doesn’t blush.

Because he’s got no blood-

  


A pang in my heart.

  


I like his blush-

  


“-I’ll fix him myself!!”

“You don’t know how”.

  


-He blocks me-

With an arm.

Around my back.

I  **_shove_ ** at him!!

  


“But  _ I  _ do-”

“I don’t want to marry you!!”

“-Well too bad”.

  


He holds my hand firmly in his.

  


“I want to marry you”.

“Why!?”

  


I rip my hand free.

  


“Why me?”

“Because you’re a living piece of art-cold and lifeless”.

  


He closes his eyes, and for a moment, with that innocent beam on his face, he reminds me of a kid.

  


“We could make many beautiful dolls together-”

“Since when did you find out about me!??”

“Since I saw you talking to  _ him”. _

  


A nod-

  


“At the party!?”

  


That was  _ two years ago!! _

  


“Don’t believe in ‘Love At First Sight’?”

“Never worked for me-”

  


I shoot a stream of dream magic.

He weaves-

It steams down the expanse trailing behind him.

He gets close enough to clutch my cheek-

  


“Don’t you want us to be happy?

Him?”

  


-I’d say it was an accident.

That I purposefully set him on fire.

  
  


The end of his sentence cuts in a sudden choked cry.

“Yes!!”

-Trust me, if this were anyone else, I wouldn’t be as ecstatic that he’s  _ burning to death  _ right in front of our eyes.

She spins around, and runs to the prison-

She grips the metal.

  


“Alice, be careful-!!”

  


Electricity crackles.

She screams-

  


“OWOWOWOW, I’ve got this-”

  


I hedge away-

  


The scent of tang-

It’s melting.

She’s doing it-!!

I apprehensively peek over her shoulder-

Still, burning.

  


Thank the  **Lord.**

  


_ But what are we going to do with the body- _

_ Hush,  _ I tell myself,  _ we’ll figure that out. _

  
  


Eventually, they drip to the floor like extra-vandalized candles.

  


“Can you fit through there?” she pants-

She’s charred from fingertip to forearm.

“I can try-”

I duck my head.

I force a shoulder through-

“-That hurt-I’m good-!!”

I push, and I  _ push-!!!!!!! _

I fall down in a heap.

“Ugh-”

She extends a hand.

“Ow-” she yelps when I take it-

“Sorry-!!”

She helps me up.

  


**_Still_ ** burning.

  


“-Should we throw water on him?”

“Nah”.

  


“‘Kay”.

  


I meet her eyes.

  


“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“. . . . . .”

  


She shrugs.

And that worries me.

  


“I’d like to care-but he was a stalker”.

  
  


-Bones clatter.

A blackened skeleton.

We lift one arm over his shoulder, and one arm over mine.

Then. . .?

  


“-Now what?”

“Find some place to dump it?”

  


I shrug.

  


“Put it where C.G. can never raise him again?”

“But. . .”

  


Envy bites his lip.

  


“The Dark Tea Stones-”

“Maybe we can get Candy Pop to do something”.

  


We start dragging the corpse-

  


“He does have his body back now”.

_ “-Does  _ he?”

  


“AHHHHHH-!??”

  


There’s  _ somebody coming from that Mirror-!????? _

  
  


“You had us  _ worried!!!!!” _

Envy yells-

Morivin brushes off some dust.

Unconcerned.

“I could’ve been worse-”

“Can you help us?”

“With what”.

We glance at each other.

His gaze plays over what used to be ‘Calvin’.

  


-He smirks.

  


“Nice. . . .”

  


“Anywhere we can put him where he  _ can’t possibly  _ come back ever!??”

“No match for the Fire Girl, eh?”

“-I was just sick of him”.

“-Who isn’t”.

  


He thinks.

Tapping a finger on his chin-

  


-You could always keep killing him forever”.

“After  _ so long!?” _

  


Envy’s voice snaps.

  


“No!! I’m not dealing with him anymore!!! Do you know how  _ tiring  _ this gets-!?”

“-More than you might think”, I hear him mutter under his breath-

I have no idea what he’s talking about.

“But anyway”.

  


-He turns brisk and business-like again. . .

  


“You want him gone”.

“Yes, please”, I agree-

“Then leave him to me”.

  


-The Pasta’s grin is downright  **evil.**

  


“I know what to do to make sure he’ll  _ never  _ come after you again.

Never ever”.

“Then do it-!!”

  


The Plant Man is close to  _ tears. _

  


“Bad enough I’m a stupid doll!! I don’t want to have to see his sorry self for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!”

  
  


The Arch-Demon takes the dead body off our hands.

  


I’m. . .honestly not sure what to think.

But hey…

If even  _ he’s  _ done with him-

  


It is  _ very  _ likely we really  _ aren’t  _ going to ever see Calvin again. . .for the rest of our lives.

  


(*)

  
  


After he leaves, we’re left to find an un-converter machine, or. . . _ whatever _ , on our own.

He clunks as he walks.

He pulls on his skin as if he’s terrified of it.

I know he is.

“This place ought to be sunk”, I hear him mutter.

“Probably”.

I could at least try to burn it down.

  
  


Alice opens the door.

Ew. . .

I detest it immediately-

  


A glass chamber, with needles in it.

_ That’s  _ what he used to change me!??

I reluctantly step inside. . . . .

  


“Um…”

  


Her finger hovers over the buttons, uncertain.

I can see her eyes rove. . . . .

I feel like I ought to be shivering.

But I’m not.

  


-Tapping.

I brace myself.

OW that hurts-

  


As the chlorophyll rushes to my head, my balance goes-

  


.

  


.

  


.

  


Envy. . .?

  


Envy-

  


-Envy!??”

  


. . . . . . .?”

  


I blink….

The blur-

  


“What happened-”

-She hugs me so hard, my ribs might burst.

  
  


We walk alongside the edge of the cliff.

Smoke wafts behind us.

Ahead, a sunlit city. . .

The waning edge of afternoon.

Autumn leaves blow in, even that high.

“-I remember you always have something to tell me”.

“Yeah. . . . “

He doesn’t meet my eyes.

“What happened?”

“-You always forgot”.

“I did? My memory must be awful-”

  


But it’s not.

  


“It’s ‘cause I keep trying to tell you ahead of Wonderland”.

“Why Wonderland?”

“Some Love Triangle business most likely, I have terrible luck like that”.

“I don’t like anybody, really. . . . . . . . .”

“Not even if they spouted flowery language or whatever? They must have perfect people there”.

“-I mean, that’d be the quickest way to drive me off-”

“What about brainwashing?”

“-I always get out of it eventually. I don’t know why it’s harder for me, and not the others”.

“It’s your fire”.

“Eh?”

“It’s because of your earth mom. Everything that’s different about you, is because of your earth mom”.

He sighs.

“It was my bad-”

“What do you mean-”

“I’ve known you since you were a baby up there. I watched you up to high school, and then I stopped-”

“You  _ what-” _

“I was supposed to protect you, and then I failed! -And then when I found you after you were born…..you didn’t need protecting. And now. . . . . .you still don’t need protecting”.

He smiles sadly-

“I didn’t love you until I really met you, but...it’s all wrong, isn’t it? I’m much older than you-and you won’t actually be an adult until a month or so has gone by”.

He shakes his head.

“Wonderland…..it’s going to be a third year. I wonder if it’ll ever show up, but it doesn’t even matter anymore-”

“...............”

  


I mean-

  


“It’s not…. _ un _ reciprocated-”

  


But….

  


“Lot of power imbalance, huh?”

“Pretty much….I shouldn’t even be telling you anything. . . . . “

“Keeping secrets never helped-”

“I know”.

  


He looks down.

  


“-Because it’s Reality, the chance of me forgetting, is small”.

“I know…”

“-If it helps, you were in something before OET………”

“-I was?”

“Yeah. . . .that’s-how you got captured-”

  


I gulp, a little guiltily-

  


“That’s how we met when I had my first brainwashing”.

  


_ First. . . . _

_ Oh my goodness……. _

  


“It wasn’t even supposed to connect….but there’s time to re-write, if it’s necessary-”

“Not for that”.

“No….”

  


It’s better if we don’t end up together.

After I  _ just  _ decided I liked him-

  


But anything I’ll say about it, I’ll bet I’ve already said.

In the past-

  


“-At least you don’t flirt”.

He chokes on his laughter.

“W-What-”

“I’d hate that”.

“N-no flirting. Got it”.

“Yay”.

  


But we really shouldn’t be together.

  
  


I have a bad feeling we’ve reached the same conclusion.

If I have to go back, I’ll just spiral again. . . . .

If I don’t try to help her, I’ll most likely get yelled at.

If I do try, it won’t work-except for. . .

…

Something hideous-

  


I could change if I had to, to cope with everything else-

I don’t think I could make it past that.

  


And I don’t want to leave out my sister in the process……………..

Or anyone else.

  


I’m not as strong as Ivy, I know it, even my  _ younger brothers  _ are more unshakable.

  


-I’m almost afraid to try to  _ be  _ better, because the amount of people I can count on one hand without jealousy is few indeed.

  


We really shouldn’t be together.

I think-

It’d be easier--

  
  


As he opens a portal home, I just have to know:

  


“We’ll be okay if we let it fade?”

“......Yeah. We’ll be fine”.

  
  


-And if our lives eventually progress to the point where we  _ can  _ get it together with no issues, we’ll take it.

If they don’t, then we won’t.

We’ll still be friends.

  
  


That’s right.

  
  


Although I highly doubt either of us will ever love another.

  


(*)

  


I knock on the mirror:

  


“Hey you”.

  


It doesn’t crack.

It stopped that when I found out  _ exactly  _ what happened.

  


“I found a problem”.

  


I dump the corpse through the glass.

  


“He won’t stay down, apparently”.

  


I roll my eyes-

  


“Just leave him somewhere or give his bones to Cerberus to chew on. I don’t care”.

  


Do whatever you have to do to make sure he never,  _ ever,  _ **_ever_ ** comes back.

If it’s outside of Fiction, I  _ know  _ they will-

  
  


I meet up with everyone.

“Oh h*-”

-Yes, you  **should** be scared….

The jester’s eyes widen.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing  _ you-” _

“Are you going to get lost?”

“-Hah. You think I could?”

I sniff.

“Why not? You’ve made it a  _ habit”. _

“Is he gone?”

  


Enter Alice.

  


“He’s gone, gone, gone-”

  


The plant man relaxes. . .

  


“Who-”

“Some doll”.

  


-For some reason, Candy Pop is laughing.

  


“- _ A _ nyway, any future plans?”

“Not really…..”

Envy clutches his arm.

“Just. . .hang out?”

“In this emptiness?”

I wave to everywhere.

“Say you got caught in action. And then froze. Would you really be okay with that?”

“-You know a. . .better way?” Alice asks cautiously. . . . . . .

“I’m just saying”.

  


I shrug.

  


“You clearly have this window open between two realities”.

  


The other whose name I don’t know, lifts his head.

  


“-Sorry, who’s this-?”

“He’s my Nemesis-”

“99.9 % of the time”, I grimace.

“Oh”.

  


“-Why does he look so drugged out of his mind?”

  


“-He got brainwashed by a bird”, Envy huffs.

“I  _ think  _ it’ll wear off?”

  
  


-When I return, I dump -00-degree  **freezing** cold water on his hood.

“AHHHH HEY-”

“Wake up”.

  


He splutters, and while he does that, I address them again.

  


“-Okay so who broke who’s heart first?”

  


-They stare at me.

  


“What. Your friend’s heart migrates to his sleeve, remember?

He looks  _ much  _ better now, which means one or the other of you cut it off”.

  


-Cue the green blush.

Venus will be jealous.

  


“You did  _ what!?” _

  


-He actually gives two cents.

Amazing.

  


“-It’s better because of the backstory issues”, Alice explains-

“And I can’t trust myself to have faith when she disappears...what if the mind manipulation sticks next time?”

“You act like there  _ will  _ be a next-time”.

  


I tilt my head-

  


“Why don’t you just flip your existence?

“Flip it!?”

  


-Annnnd he doesn’t get it.

  


“You two have dreams. Just make it so you come here when you sleep. It’d be easy”.

“-Is that possible?”

  


Alice looks to him-

  


“I...I don’t know”.

“You have portals, don’t you?”

“I mean yes-”

_ “Everyone  _ has portals”.

  


I saw it.

Like... _ fifty  _ times-

  


He experimentally uses green power-

Alice tentatively sets her own hands alight.

They press their palms together. . .

  


-I think he’s explaining something to her.

  


Pale-blue enters the mix-

  


Makes turquoise.

A bright, white, flash--

  


“There. All problems solved-”

I wave a hand.

“-You still want to stay apart?”

  
  


We look at each other.

“.......”

-We break into the most awkward grins……..

  


“Mmhm. . . .”

  


The Arch-Demon snorts at us.

  


“How did I  _ know-” _

“It’s them”, C.P. says, “what else are you expecting?”

  


Michael’s still wringing water out of his cloak-

  


“-Does this mean I can avoid being murdered now?”

  


I go over and hug him.

  


“-I should have just had you walk away”.

“Too late now….”

“Actually. . . . . . .”

  


Envy coughs.

  


“You only technically need to show up when rips appear. So…..”

“-Quite right”.

  


A thumbs-up.

  


“Glad we have that figured out”.

“So whenever it updates, we’ll be back”.

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alice sinks to the floor.

  


“Uh-”

-Hello?

  


“. . . . . .We’re gonna hang in there-”

  


Nooooo, Alice don’t cry---!!!!

  


I sit down next to her-

“Yeah, yeah….it’s okay, you know-”

“I kinda feel bad-”

“-Well who says others can’t try it, too? Everybody’s way of being here is different, you know?”

“I hope so-”

  


She wipes at her face-

I dig into my purple pockets for a tissue or something.

  


“-Handkerchief?”

  


She nods-

She blows her nose.

  


“......This is gonna be so weird”, Envy remarks.

“We’re all weird”, the green guy deadpans.

“Yes Captain Obvious”, C.P. needles.

-He gets a death-glare.

“-You’re stuck with us now”.

  


He moves away from the regular Demon’s arm.

  


“Cold-!!”

“I already know that”.

  


Eyeroll-

  


Alice smiles, then yawns….

  
  


My eyelids flutter once, twice-

  


“Thank you. . . everybody……………..”

“Have a good rest”, Envy replies softly.

“See you around”, C.P. adds.

“-Don’t be lost”, Morivin echoes bluntly.

“We’ll be here”.

Michael winks.

**Author's Note:**

> Since this has grown larger than ETN, whatever happens, will just be titled (Fandom). There are plenty of stories in the past to still tell, but it may be a while before the future is ever affected again (at least for now).
> 
> It's been quite a ride I think, and it's also not over.  
> It's very hard to describe what it's doing.  
> It's a Mobius Strip between times.
> 
> Candy Pop belongs to DanceOfAngels, and Morivin to IvyDarkRose. (Both Pastas).


End file.
